Why Street Teams Are Nothing But 'Proactive Litter'

For the sake of not being overwhelmed, you need a regimented schedule. You get 20 minutes per day, before noon, to do maintenance: check email, post show dates, toss some pithy tweets out into the universe, what-have-you. Twenty minutes does not mean 45; it means use your watch or get an egg timer. You get 15 minutes after 5 p.m. five days per week for cursory email/Facebooking. Two nights a week, you get an hour for bigger projects, research and hustling. Allocate no more than two additional hours per week for schmoozing at shows, making and distributing fliers, and other things that happen outside the computer. See if you can't get that down to 90 minutes, for the sake of efficiency.

Also, I don't believe in street teams. Street teams are a deeply bullshit way for bands and labels to use young fans for what amounts to proactive littering. When was the last time you were at a festival and show and were eager and grateful for a flier? Never Dot Org.

Did you read that New York Times article this weekend about the terminally interning creative class? When you get some money together, if your career warrants it, consider hiring a young someone as your assistant manager--for, say, $15 per hour 10 to 15 hours per month. Anyone younger than 28 is going to be way better at finessing the interwebs than you are anyhow. It's a title for them to put on their résumé and valuable work experience for the many college-age kids out there looking for entre into "the industry." Give them some real tasks and duties that allow them to make contacts and build your base, job creator-style. Be an inspired part of the solution rather than just another dude in a band bitching about how hard it is to be in a band.

Best of luck,
Fan